Dear Rebecca,

You are now almost 5 years old.  You are now really good at your tricycle.  You seem to be excited and ready to move on to the next step of a bicycle.  You are also now starting your second year of t-ball, which I have the misfortune to coach again.  Hopefully this year you can listen to your coach better, I doubt it though, even after just the 2nd practice I have trouble keeping you on point.


Now that you are almost 5 years old, we have you doing quite a bit more around the house.  You are now washing dishes on a daily basis, folding towels, and putting up your clothes after Momma washes and folds them.  You are very proud of the fact that you have learned to fold socks together.


Also, this has been your first true year of starting school.  So far, out of three children, you are the only one excited about it.  Or maybe you are just too naive to know how much work it is.  You've really taken off with your math skills.  Before you really couldn't count to ten, and now you can count, add and subtract small numbers.  You seem to really enjoy learning to write your alphabet, and your computer learning games like ABC Mouse.  Momma says you've already asked her about starting to learn to read.  When we had you take a speech test at school, they were very impressed with how large of a vocabulary you already have.


Now that we've had Kate here since the end of May.  You've been eager and willing to help take care of her or playing with her.  Although we have gotten on to you for picking up Kate, and putting her on the couch.  But you do seem to want to entertain her and keep her from getting over fussy.  This is new for you, being the older sister.  You'll learn that there are more responsibilities now being an older sister.  Also with Kate getting more independent and she is starting to learn new things, your responsibilities for her will change as you get older.

Rebecca, things I want you to work on this year is being polite, and use manners.  Being polite is something you try to do every day, it's based off the golden rule: that you treat others better, that you treat others the way you want to be treated.  This of course is easier said than done, meaning it takes lots of patience and mental fortitude to be polite and kind to one another.  Scripture says, "A soft word turneth away wrath."  This simple proverb illustrates that being polite with someone can go a long way in avoiding conflict.  Since you are a middle child, you have a tendency to cause "Trouble"; but by being polite and using the manners we try to teach you, you can be a better person.  The reason why Daddy says "No Sir" and "Yes Sir" and open doors for people is not to just be nice.  It's a little deeper than that, I want to show my appreciation for others.  So hopefully, this year we can have a more peaceful year with your brother and sisters, by being more polite with one another.

We love you,
Stop causing so much trouble,
Daddy